The West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) will be presenting a series of rain barrel workshops in the northeast corner of the show being held through Sunday at the DeVos Place Convention Center, 300 Monroe Avenue NW.

WMEAC’s will be hosting workshops on Friday at 3 p.m., 5.p.m. and 7 p.m.; on Saturday at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and on Sunday at noon and 2 p.m.

The workshop is free, but participants are asked to pay $15 for the cost of materials, including the barrels and associated hardware. Pre-registration at wmeac.org/homeshow2012 is encouraged, but not required.

Rain barrels are aimed at preventing stormwater runoff, the largest source of water pollution in West Michigan and the Great Lakes watershed.

WMEAC officials say stormwater runoff is an especially large problem in urban areas where parking lots, buildings, roads and sidewalks cover the majority of the surface area.

In recent years, WMEAC officials say their Grand Rapids Rain Barrel Program has distributed over 1,000 rain barrels, enough to remove some 9 million gallons of stormwater runoff from West Michigan waterways.

Besides the rain barrel workshops, BetterBuildings for Michigan and WMEAC also will be hosting seminars on how to make your home more energy efficient. BetterBuildings for Michigan is a program that provides energy efficiency audits and home energy solutions to Grand Rapids neighborhoods.